Iranian-American artist Shirin Neshat’s dark kohl-lined eyes are immediately recognizable. Now she is bringing their gaze on Iranian and Arab women’s resistance to oppression to this most political of cities. The Hirshhorn Museum’s retrospective in Washington, just steps from Congress, coincides with a diplomatic push to seal a nuclear deal with Iran that has revived interest in relations between Tehran and the West. The non-linear narrative of the exhibit provides a glimpse not just at Neshat’s art and life, but also the trajectory of Iran in modern times, from the 1953 coup through the 1979 Islamic Revolution to the recent Green Movement. ‘My work is the expression of my feelings and relationship to politics… the rise of anxiety and the joy of the prospect of peace,’ Neshat told AFP. At 58, the New York-based artist is unassuming and soft-spoken, her diminutive
